I started this gift guide in mid-October, and it was a tribute to six of my favorite TV friends, who I (and many of us) grew up with. I moved to New York in 1993, just a year before this show started. I was twenty-something and fresh in the city—and the show chronicled so much of what me and my friends were going through. The relationships, the ups, the downs—and a moment in NYC that today feels so nostalgically analog. Where IRL was de facto, where cell phones were clamshell, and when the central meeting place was a coffee shop, not Instagram. Almost ten years of getting to know this group—their likes, their dislikes, their foibles and their idiosyncrasies—we felt like we were the seventh friend. Monica, Chandler, Rachel, Joey, Phoebe and Ross. And us. And then in late October we all got the news of Matthew Perry’s untimely and tragic passing. I struggled with abandoning this gift guide concept—but ultimately decided to publish it. Did you root for Ross and Rachel, cry when Monica proposed to Chandler, cheer when Joey got a role on that soap opera, or chuckle when Pheobe sang ’Smelly Cat’ (and then had the song stuck in your head for weeks)? If you did, you’ll get it. And if you didn’t watch the show, you’ll still find some cool things for your loved ones.

So, is there some nice stuff in this gift guide? Yes. I thought about what these friends would like in 2023. But ultimately, this holiday guide is more of a tribute—to ones who are friends, but really family, to the ones we have loved, and to the ones we have lost. Hug your friends and family close this holiday season, cause love is truly the central perk to life in this crazy world.

xoPeter